In this video, Konrad Dannenberg recounts how he came to work as a rocket engineer for Dr. Wernher von Braun in Germany during World War II. Dannenberg, who died Monday at age 96, also discusses why America ceased missions to the moon and the purpose of the space shuttle.

File photoKonrad Dannenberg holds a model of the V-2 rocket in this May 2006 photograph.

While Dannenberg was serving as deputy manager of the Saturn moon rocket program at Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA placed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. Dannenberg discusses this triumph and his fears for the Apollo 11 astronauts.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. today at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Davidson Center for Space Exploration to honor Dannenberg's life.